More Photos of Harvard's Houghton Library

HERE'S A QUOTE I FOUND AT THE hARVARD gAZETTE'S WEBSITE WITH SOME OF MY PHOTOS:

( HTTP://NEWS.HARVARD.EDU/GAZETTE/STORY/2013/09/HOUGHTONS-HEROES/ )

"S
tepping inside Houghton Library on the south side of Harvard Yard feels far more like entering a museum than a typical library. Behind the mesh, glassed-in displays, and roped-off rooms, Houghton Library is the primary repository for rare books and manuscripts at Harvard. Exhibitions are common here and have included the personal effects, notes, books, and other objects of interest from authors such as Copernicus, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Edward Lear, Dante Alighieri, Tennessee Williams, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Miguel de Cervantes, and Lewis Carroll. Although the items are protected from touch, a lovely intimacy with the books and artifacts can be achieved. Walking through Houghton’s rooms, each piece of history tells its tale as it is carefully and thoughtfully displayed for the viewer to experience. One could visit many times and find something new each time within the depth of Houghton’s materials."

A portrait of Herman Melville

    One view of the reading room. That oil painting on the right is an amazing portrait of Theodore Roosevelt.  
               

This is a hologram of Mr. Houghton himself with a model of the library.

A meeting room with displays.

This another view of the reading room where much research takes place. It's where I viewed New England's Prospect.

Tracking William Wood: Aptucxet Trading Post

Today I visited Aptucxet Trading Post in Bourne for the second time this summer. This is the place where, in 1631, one of the men who survived the Garrett shipwreck on Scusset Beach eventually died. In 1634, author William Wood wrote about this shipwreck in New England's Prospect. I believe he also visited the trading house, and that's why I was there. A tour was in progress when I arrived, so I strolled around the grounds and
poked around the garden where a hummingbird greeted me, reminding me that William Wood also wrote a description of this tiny feathered flier. "The humbird is one of the wonders of the country, being no bigger than a hornet, yet hath all the dimensions of a bird, as bill and wings, with quills, spider-like legs, small claws," Wood wrote. "As she flies, she makes a humming noise like a humble-bee: wherefore she is called the humbird."

Sassafras with its three differently shaped leaves: mitten-shaped, oval, and three-pronged.

Some of the plants growing in Aptucxet's garden also reminded me of Wood. A couple of huge sassafras trees, from which colonists made root tea, shaded the yard, and squash grew at the roots of corn stalks in native fashion. "The ground affords very good kitchen gardens for turnips, parsnips, carrots, radishes, and pumpions [pumpkins], muskmellon, isquouterquahses [Algonquian for squashes], cucumbers, onions, and whatsover grows well in England grows as well there, many things being better and larger," Wood wrote.

corn and squash

Beth is the lead docent at Aptucxet Trading Post, a position she shares with her daughter. We met a couple of weeks ago when I first went searching for answers to questions about William Wood's wanderings. The description he wrote of the path where he got lost on his way to Plymouth Colony seemed familiar when I read it, and I wondered if he might have been on the Megansett Trail. Beth had a map of the trail, which I photographed. Beth and I talked for an hour before she mentioned her name, after which we immediately realized that my longtime friend from the Sandwich Public Library, Lauren Robinson, is her sister. When I recovered from my surprise, we talked for another hour. Today I had the pleasure of meeting Lauren's daugther, Mavis, when she arrived at the trading post with her golden retriever.

Beth Ellis

The Megansett Trail runs north and south, top to bottom, on the map below. Like the other native trails, it's highlighted in red. The trading post appears below the words Buzzards Bay and below the Manomet River which the Cape Cod Canal replaced. Wood wrote that the Narragansetts (from Rhode Island) walked along the Megansett Trail to Plymouth, where they bought shoes. Most likely they canoed from Rhode Island, through Buzzards Bay, and then up the Manomet River, stopping at the trading post on their way. (Dutch traders sailing from New Amsterdam followed the same route.) The Megansett Trail leads past Sacrifice Rock and Great Herring Pond where the Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe lived.

When Wood got lost, he was likely trying to get from the trading post to Plymouth. He writes that he left his compass at home, but luckily, he was discovered by local Indians, probably Herring Pond tribe members, who welcomed him into their homes overnight and guided him to Plymouth the next morning. "The doubtful traveler hath oftentimes been much beholding to them [the Indians] for their guidance through the unbeaten wilderness," Wood wrote. "Myself in particular can do no less in the due acknowledgement of their love than speak their commendations..."

Searching for William Wood's Book

New England's Prospect

For the past few months I've been working on a biography of William Wood, one of The Ten Men of Saugus, Sandwich's founding fathers. When I began this project, all I knew about William Wood was that he wrote a book. What kind of book was it? Immediately I set to searching, and what I found surprised me. William Wood's book is actually quite well-known in historical circles. It contains an important map, and historians often refer to it when they write about early New England. Although digital versions of William Wood’s New England's Prospect can be read online, I wanted to see and hold the real thing. Would it be possible to find? Yes, of course. Anything can be found on the internet, and quickly I discovered that a rare 1634 edition was available in several libraries not far from my home. After emailing a few librarians, I decided to visit Houghton Library, one of 67 libraries on Harvard University's campus. Why? Houghton Library is Harvard's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts, and since Harvard was founded in 1636, William Wood could easily have walked on its grounds.

So, on a sunny June day, I turned on Google Maps and drove to Cambridge with my husband, John. After parking, we walked past the Out of Town News stand, crossed Mass Ave, and strolled through Harvard’s arched gateway. Google Maps directed me along hallowed pathways to my destination, Houghton Library.

Out of Town News, Harvard Square

Houghton Library

Once inside, unfortunately, the guard in the main foyer denied us entrance. To find the book I wanted, he politely informed me, we’d have to go next door to Widener Library to get a special pass. Forty five minutes later, pass in hand, the same guard told us that backpacks weren't allowed into the library. Neither were purses or pens or any other personal possessions. Everything had to be stored in a locker. But thankfully, I was allowed to keep my cell phone with me so that I could snap a few photos. We entered the reading room through a locked door, and the librarian assigned us a table. I made my request, and finally, New England’s Prospect was delivered to me. 

New England's Prospect by William Wood

1634 New England's Prospect with fold-out map

This particular copy of New England’s Prospect was beautifully rebound in leather by Sangorski and Sutcliffe of London and donated to Houghton Library by its namesake and main benefactor, Arthur Amory Houghton, Jr., whose great-grandfather founded Corning Glass Works in 1851. In 1920, Arthur Houghton bought the book for $2,800. Considering inflation, that price today would be more than $35,000. Although it's not the Holy Grail of all books - the Gutenberg Bible holds that distinction - this 1634 text holds within its covers knowledge that was gleaned through one intrepid young man's sweat and sacrifice, indeed, it contains a sort of wine that fed and inspired the minds of many who lived centuries ago. That someone saw fit to skillfully bind this book in tooled leathers, place it in a beautifully designed, well-guarded repository, and ask those who touch it to treat it with respect is a reflection of our culture's values. This book's important; you can go and see it, too, but it's not for sale.